Can I push MO. Bullet Companies .44 Mag Bullets to Mag Velocities?

[Eb1]

targets added - Can I push MO. Bullet Companies .44 Mag Bullets to Mag Velocities?

I am looking for a lead bullet that I can push to 1300 fps, with good accuracy, and keep the costs down.

Anyone have experience with this that cares to chime in?

Thank you.

 

[Quoheleth]

Per published data, I was pushing their .41 Trooper at or near those velocities, and also get near that with their .357 bullets.

I would think the same would be true with the .44s. Some powders might work better than others, so it might take a little testing. I've had good luck with AA#9 and 2400 for those velocities.

Q

 

[Arkansas Paul]

If you go with the Brinell 18 bullets you shouldn't have any trouble. The 12s are for lower velocities. I emailed them before buying, telling them I was going to push the 255 grain SWC bullets at over 1k fps, and that's what they recommended. Haven't had a problem. That's through a .45 Colt.

 

[Eb1]

Got some 2400 right now, and have loaded it in combo with a 270 Speer GD at 1000 fps for some fun and trials.

I just have to convience myself that a lead bullet is going to work. I have had serious issue with them in the 30-30 to the point I swore I would never shoot them, but the .44 Magnum is a different ball game all together.
I really want a SWC because I am stay in hog country a lot, and I also want to shoot a deer with my revolver this year.
I also want this gun to be my fun gun as I love the single action. I have a single action .22 LR/WMR that I absolutely love. It is funny because I only shoot lead bullets from the 22. I shoot Winchester X-Perts, and they are so accurate it is not even funny.

Here locally we have a bullet maker that makes a .430 SWC and also distributes .430 Zero bullets (don't know what Zero bullets are though). They also load ammo, and I am going to buy some of there .44 Magnum SWC which is probably loaded with 2400 as there 200 grain RN Specials are loaded with 15.0 grain of 2400, and they are pretty darn accurate. I did not see much leading from when I shot those. They were moving at around 1000 fps.

I am just anxious, but cautious. I know I cannot cast my own, but I want a steady diet of a good killing/plinking bullet. I don't want to have to choose a bullet for different scenarios. I wanna .44 magnum that will get the job done for Arkansas game. Deer, Hogs, Coyotes, etc..

Looking into MO. Bullet Company. I am hoping to get a few samples to load before dropping the coin.

 

[ReloaderFred]

The .44 Magnum was first loaded with lead bullets, then later with jacketed bullets. Your apprehension is unwarranted concerning the use of lead in this caliber. If will do just fine.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[qajaq59]

You could check with these guys. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

 

[Eb1]

Who knows without trying. I am just really worried about this lead thing. My shipment went out today of the 18 brinell. I just hope they work out. Real leery of lead bullets. If I run into trouble can I count on you guys to help me out?

 

[Jeff H]

I push cast lead faster than that in 357 without any issues or leading to speak of. Just make sure they are hard enough for the velocity (18 bhn is fine).

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

The .44 Magnum was first loaded with lead bullets, then later with jacketed bullets. Your apprehension is unwarranted concerning the use of lead in this caliber. If will do just fine.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Unless you have a Desert Eagle . . . gums up the works

 

[Hammerdown77]

If you do get leading, it will probably only be minimal. Much easier to clean it out of a revolver than a rifle, IMHO. Couple of swipes with a Chore Boy patch wrapped around a copper bore brush will cut it right out. Takes me a couple of minutes tops to clean any lead out of my single actions, and all they see is lead bullets.

Btw, let us know how those MBC bullets do. I use their bullets for everything I have, but I just got a .44 special and .44 mag and will need to order some more for those two guns.

 

[Maj Dad]

Here locally we have a bullet maker that makes a .430 SWC and also distributes .430 Zero bullets (don't know what Zero bullets are though).

Zero has been around a long time - used to shoot zillions of their 148 gr 38 HBWCs & 185 gr 45 SWCs ventilating paper & in CF pistol matches back in the 60s & 70s. Excellent bullets then, haven't used them since the 80s.

I cast 250 SWC .430 bullets out of linotype or wheelweights & linotype and have only mild lead smearing, not really leading in my 44 SBH & 25 gr 296. It is Winchester's recommended load that I have used since ~1976 with never a problem. When I cast with milder alloys, or just straight wheelweights I load them down, usually 10 gr Unique and they do fine also. When the leading gets my attention I whip out the Lewis Lead Remover & get the lead out, literally, in 5-6 minutes.

 

[Eb1]

Okay. I got the bullets in. They look pretty good. Blue lube, but some were missing lube. I guess they will make nice looking artifacts for the desk.

I have loaded them to the crimp groove with a fairly heavy roll crimp. I loaded 19.0 grains 2400. I loaded 10 rounds. I just cleaned my barrel to make sure there wasn't any copper in the bore. All is good for the morning session. I guess we will see how it goes. I hope they are accurate and clean.

I did do what a gent advised me to do. I dropped the boolits into the cylinder chambers. I could push them through. I am kind worried that my chambers are a little large, and a .430 might be to small. I might need a .431 sized boolit. We well see I guess. Post back tomorrow with the report. I am not going to take the Chrony tomorrow. I am just going to shoot for accuracy, and to check for leading.

 

[bluetopper]

They will do fine. My 44 Mags haven't seen a jacketed bullet in years.

 

[Tallinar]

I did do what a gent advised me to do. I dropped the boolits into the cylinder chambers. I could push them through. I am kind worried that my chambers are a little large, and a .430 might be to small. I might need a .431 sized boolit. We well see I guess. Post back tomorrow with the report. I am not going to take the Chrony tomorrow. I am just going to shoot for accuracy, and to check for leading.

As long as they didn't "fall" through, you may be just fine. They should definitely go through with a little push. Remember, the hot gases behind the bullet at peak pressure as the bullet leaves the case should cause the bullet to obturate and completely seal the chamber mouths.

 

[Eb1]

Okay. I have shot the boolits, and also shot the 270 grain Speers with a starting load of 15.5 grains 2400.

Here are the loadings for today. All shot from 15 yards. I have to admit I was a little intimidated by the 19.0 grain loading, but after shooting for a bit I settled down. I am also not very use to the weight of the gun. I shot the lead load first, and the last 3 started to group. The first 6 or so were all over the place, but I think that was more myself than the actual load. Anyway here are the targets.

19.0 grains 2400
240 grain Missouri Bullets LSWC 18 BHN
You can see that the last 3 are circled. It looks like I started to pull them together. I will give them another go round tomorrow most likely. I am still new to the 44 Magnum, and learning to position my grip and such.

15.5 grains 2400
270 grain Speer GDFP
As you can see.. The first shots were the scattered shots. These were my fault. I think I could have put all of them into that group if were more calm, and use to the revolver more. So at this time I had shot 13 or 14 shots for the day, and was settling down, and getting use to the recoil and weight of the gun. Also you can see that these grouped very nicely, and I think this may be a good load for my revolver. A 270 grain Jacketed FP at around 1050 fps is a pretty good thump. Don't you think?

Here are the last of the 10.0 grain Unique/240 grain Speer HP (not GD) loads.
I was shooting these fairly quickly. Trying to just unload them, but as you can see. These started to groups as well. To the upper left. I will try backing down to 9.5 grains and see if they shoot better, but I am out of them, and do not plan to buy any more. Might try 9.5 grains of Unique with the MO boolits for a plinker load.

I would like to say that I did not see any real leading. I really don't know what to look for as far as leading. Chunks of lead? A lot of build up on the cone? The barrel was a little gray, but I was shooting gray boolits. I did not see that any of the grooves were filled with lead or leveled off after the 10 shots of the MO rounds.

Well. A fun day at the range nonetheless. I think I found one good loading the 270 grain Speer looks really promising, and is pleasant to shoot. Might make a good hog load.

I do not like to shoot a 6 o'clock hold. I have been shooting with a 6 o'clock hold, but I don't like to at those short ranges. I think I will do better if I I just calm down, and shoot the way I like to shoot. This gun and myself have not developed a relationship yet, but we are working on it.

 

[Eb1]

posted results as promised. ;p

 

[zxcvbob]

I push plain-based cast bullets to about 1700fps with no leading whatsoever in a .30 Carbine revolver (I don't know why it doesn't lead.)

In .45 Colt, I've shot Oregon Trails "Laser Cast" bullets and Mastercastbullets at about 1300 fps with just a little leading but not bad at all. I don't know why MO bullets (or any other well-made bullet for that matter) would be any different as long as it fits properly and your bore is not rough. If I back off just a little, I don't get leading.

My BHP 9mm doesn't lead at all with cast bullets @ just under 1200 fps.

I have a Taurus .357 that leads no matter what I do. I think I need to fire-lap the bore. My other .357's I haven't shot enough with magnum loads to have any real data (I mostly shoot +P .38 Specials)

1300 fps in a .44 Magnum without leading should be pretty doable. 1400 to 1500 is kind of pushing it but you might get lucky.

 

[CraigC]

As you found out, your apprehension about cast bullets was unwarranted. I'd save the 270gr Gold Dots for higher velocities. At that speed, a good SWC will do a better job and cost a lot less. 19.0-20.0gr 2400 with a commercial 240-250gr SWC is a good hunting load and will drop any deer that ever lived. Same for sanely sized hogs. You really don't need to drive them very fast. My general purpose and hunting load is a commercial 240gr SWC or 250gr Keith bullet over 10.0gr Unique for 1050-1100fps in sixguns and 1450fps in rifles. Driving them faster will flatten trajectory but they won't kill any better.

 

[Walkalong]

I think I found one good loading the 270 grain Speer looks really promising, and is pleasant to shoot. Might make a good hog load.

270 Gr Gold Dot post

I found a place to shoot some hogs this year. I am going to try out the 270 Gr GD on them. These in the pic are left over from when I had some W-296. I switched to AA #9 for an all around .44 Mag powder, and recently tried Lil' Gun and N-110. N-110 is really good stuff. I haven't tried AA #9 or N-110 with the 270 Gr GD, cause I still have almost 50 of them loaded. They weren't loaded for plinkers, just serious work. You may have noticed that 20.5 Grs of W-296 is the max in the Speer # 12 manual. Don't start there.

Might be overkill, but those pigs are getting bigger these days.